How can we express the physical and mental repercussions of rape used as an instrument of war? The choreographer Dorothée Munyaneza set off in search of those women who had been subjected to mistreatment during the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. In Unwanted, she confronts us with pain and anguish that has been perpetuated by conflicts of war.

Between April and July 1994, as massacres took hold in Rwanda, between 100,000 and 250,000 women were raped. This intrusion into their most intimate selves is a scar that these women carry with them today. Often rejected by their communities, some women have given birth to the children — now adults — of their aggressors. After leaving Rwanda for Great Britain during adolescence, Dorothée Munyaneza returned to her native land in order to meet mothers and children alike. Drawing on their experiences and with the continued existence of this violence in mind, the author-performer and choreographer embarked on a search for an artistic means to respond to this suffering. The result is a piece which centers on the female body itself, irrespective of race or class.

After performing in productions by Rachid Ouramdane and Robyn Orlin among others, Dorothée Munyaneza is now based in Marseille. Her previous work, entitled Samedi Détente, marked her first foray into the theme of the Tutsi genocide. Unwanted, her second work, is her collaboration with South African visual artist Bruce Clarke, composer Alain Mahé, and Afro-American musician Holland Andrews. Mixing dance with songs and text, those artists will be joining Munyaneza onstage in order to give voice to these women and to their fractured lives and much-overlooked dignity.